The Stage of Mercantilism

Abstract

There may be some readers who think it imprudent to try to theorize a dominant type of capital accumulation prior to the industrial revolution. After all, is not capital in its inner essence industrial capital? Can you have capitalism that is not industrial capitalism? Both Marx and Uno seemed to think that capitalism did exist before the industrial revolution. But is this pre-industrial capitalism to be understood simply as a movement towards the industrial revolution, or can it be theorized as a qualitatively distinct type of capital accumulation — a stage of capital accumulation with its own dynamics that are not industrial? My assumption is the latter, and rather than arguing about it, I shall simply proceed on this basis. The approach can be judged by the fruit that it bears.